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October 13th 2020

David_Orr • October 13, 2020
The Light
Read Ecclesiastes 2:12-17; of course the whole chapter would be good to read because it is of the same thoughts. Ecclesiastes is Solomon struggling with looking back over his life trying to find the point of it all. The Title to this sub-section of Chapter 2 is “The Vanity of Living Wisely” and he reached a wrong conclusion. The negative he listed about living wisely was that his wisdom would die with him and no one would remember. We are reading his wisdom today and part of that wisdom is that it is normal to struggle with life. Mighty Solomon was struggling with “Does all I did have any real meaning?” He built a Kingdom beyond imagination for one man to accomplish in one lifetime. People came from everywhere to hear his wisdom and see if what others had told them was true. And most, like the Queen of Sheba said the truth was twice as amazing as what they had heard. To really get Ecclesiastes you have to read all of it and the conclusion is found at the end of the book. The first words of this book is “Emptiness of Emptiness ALL IS EMPTINESS!” (vanity). Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived yet he was still a man and made bad decisions. He put Idols on the Temple grounds to please some of his foreign wives and he bought many slaves. Expanding his Kingdom put great toil on those subject to him so fiercely that the kingdom divided after his death. He withheld nothing that he wanted from himself and wisdom should lead to self-discipline of which he lacked. Solomon saw there was more gain in wisdom than in folly but he admits he indulged himself in much folly. Beyond personal struggles and failures being responsible for so many of God’s Kids brings much sorrow. As a twenty something I took this book to heart and trusted Solomon’s conclusions. At age 25 I sold my new 4 wheel drive and bought a truck one year away from being antique. 32 years later it is again my only means of transportation. In grief I wrote almost my whole income every month for the payments and insurance on the new truck. With joy I put my hands to work building the old one. But it’s not about the truck: it’s about not wasting labor on sorrow. I learned a long time ago I could work longer hours and buy the things I want; or build them. The same thought process was why I went into business for myself. I could work 90 hours a week for “Company” and barely get by or enjoy the fruits of my labor. Solomon recording his struggle with searching for meaning amongst life’s mess helped me with mine. When I see him in Heaven I will hug his neck for sure: he did all the overthinking for me. I saw the wisest man that ever lived and had everything he wanted say “Stuff is Vain!” It amazes me still that I looked at someone that knew from experience and made my decisions by his conclusions. God’s Wisdom is NEVER vain, God’s LIGHT always brings joy and darkness always brings sorrow. I pray my struggles help others at least 1/10th of 1% as much as Solomon’s: but it’s what I have. We as God’s children have precious things to give others that the wealth of the whole universe can’t even touch. Solomon learned the value of things the hard way, just like me, just like you. Invest all you own in this world into eternal things: people are the only eternal things on earth.

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